Sharon Richardson

Can anyone tell me if there is anyone by the name of Skivelton (skifelton or any other similar name) buried in this cemetary.

16-Jul-2010

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B Hallam

Sharon, I believe there is a group known as 'Friends of Beckett Street Cemetery' who might be able to help you locate the grave you seek.

20-Jul-2010

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Les Deighton

Hello Sharon, I have a CD of the buriels at Beckett Street Cemetery and there is a entry for a Mary Skivington a child grave number 19784,she died in 1876 if this helps. The Yorkshire Indexers Site could be of more help to you. Les Deighton.

16-Jan-2011

lwd42@hotmail.com

Joanne Carter

My great great grandmother Emma Carter is buried in a Guinea grave number 7235.

09-Feb-2011

joanne.carter@roadways.co.uk

ALUN PUGH

I am the chairman of the Cemetery Friends [as June 2013] Should you require information contact me on my email address

28-May-2013

a.apugh@ntlworld.com

B Hallam

Throughout the 1940's and up until the middle 1950's, as one of a gang of the local street urchins, this cemetery was our playground - climbing over its high stone wall of course ... using the lodge gates risked getting caught. But this wasn't my only connection with the cemetery as my Dad frequently worked there adding new memorials to the gravestones. Unlike most cemeteries, Beckett Street Cemetery - the first Municipal cemetery in the country, wasn't then too dissimilar to how it is today. Its tree-lined nature, and maze like paths snaking through a hundred-years of nature's prolific dominance, gave it an adventurous lure to us children. Being chased off was just part of the fun. That it is largely now being left to that ultimate dominance of nature, is to me, quite fitting. Created on land bought from the Beckett family in 1840, it is a Leeds' treasure little known of by most people. Along with what remains of the original St. James's Hospital buildings, they are the only remnants of the Beckett Street that was my childhood, teenage, and adult environment, until 1965 when the wreckers flattened it.

18-Jun-2013

barry.hallam2@ntlworld.com

John Bean

I visited the cemetery only recently with the vague intention of finding my paternal great grandfathers grave. On arrival I realised just how large and how numerous the headstones were here. Within a few yards I found the monumental gravestone of my maternal gt,gt grandfather and gained a great deal of info from it. A little later I decided to look amongst the guinea graves, most are in reasonable date order as it was worth eliminating those first,in my remaining quest. Some 20 mins later I had a photo of the gravestone of my initial search. I would recommend to those searching for ancestors to look at these guinea graves in whichever cemetery, as later in the week I found another relative in the old Leeds cemetery gravestone footpath at woodhouse , now the University park.

20-Jul-2013

beanj@btinternet.com

Jacko

This graveyard is divided into two halves each with its own chapel.The lower half was consecrated ground for the Church of England whilst the upper half was for the use of dissenters and was unconsecrated.

09-Aug-2015

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John Bean

08/09/15. I was at the cemetery only yesterday, to locate a ancestors gravestone. I noticed that since my previous visit around 2 years ago there are a large number of these Guinea headstones leaning much further. Sadly there was a notice from the council. Indicating that they are to inspect all headstones soon, in order to take down or lay down those recorded as unsafe or unstable. The sad part is most of the Guinea graves are engraved front and back, so laying them down would hide 50% of those interred. I hope this doesn't occur as it did at the Woodhouse cemetery, where paths were made of these style headstones and locating any ancestors has now become limited. If you know the headstone number locating is not as difficult as you would imagine, however there are a number of the guinea headstones already missing from these relatively tidy rows. Yorkshire Indexers, who photograph and record inscriptions of Churchyards and Cemeteries have undertaken to record these here, including GPS recording of the positions.They do a wonderful job and have a website available to those searching ancestors resting places. One would not imagine how the inscription can offer significant information. The headstone I wanted to photograph, indicated that my family member lost his 2 month old son , then his wife, then he himself within a 10 day period of December 1922. We in the city of Leeds owe much to the Victorian era and as many of these cemetery residents are from that era, we owe them some respect in ensuring we preserve their memory.

08-Sep-2015

beanj@btinternet.com

ALUN PUGH

As the chairman of the Friends group feel free to email me should you require any help

07-Oct-2015

a.apugh@ntlworld.com

on Smith

My brother Trevor is buried in one of these graves, he contracted a skin infection soon after he was born in 1935, he only lived four month's. To day he would have been given 'antibiotic's would have survived. I remember walking up to the grave from Burley Road with Mam and Dad to place flowers on the grave.

28-Aug-2016

anne-donsmith@shaw.ca